Playing God

"All rights of this book are reserved for the publisher and the author. This copy is for reading purpose only. This copy cannot be uploaded on any website except those of the publisher and the author." Playing God: Misreading a Divine Practice 48 nor hold that forbidden which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the jizyah after being subdued and live a life of submission. (9:29) It has been shown in the previous sections that these verses and other verses of similar meaning specifically pertain to the Idolaters, the Jews and the Christians of the Prophet Muhammad’s times. They delineate a divine practice which re lates only to the immediate addressees of a messenger of God. The onslaught they mention, as has been discussed earlier, was specific in nature and cannot be extended to people after them. Consequently, the age old debate about whether Islam was spread through the sword or not should also be understood in this perspective. The Companions (rta) of M uhammad (sws) in their collective capacity were o nly com pleting a divine scheme of God initiated by Muhammad (sws): in reality, they were not spreading Islam; they were punishing people who had deliberately denied the truth. Consequently, after them, as has been stated earlier, Muslims have no right to subdue nations and countries in the name of Islam or impose jizyah upon them. iii. The Dhimm ī Status of Non-Muslim Minorities It is held by Muslim authorities that the non-Muslim citizens of an Islamic state are of two categories 30 30. ‘Abd al-Kar ī m Zayd ā n, Ahk ā m al-dhimiyy ī n wa al- musta’min ī n f ī d ā r al-isl ā m , 1 st ed. (Baghdad: Maktabah al- Quds, 1982), 22-60. www.javedahmadgh midi.com www.al-mawrid.org